I was recently asked to speak to a homeschool parent support group, and as I was praying about what to speak about, God brought to mind all the many ways He’s shown His faithfulness to me throughout this homeschooling journey. These reminders warmed my heart and I knew by sharing, God wanted me to encourage homeschool moms that He is working faithfully in your life, in every situation.
Homeschooling is Not Easy
Homeschooling my children has been one of the greatest blessings while simultaneously one of the most challenging callings of my life.
Looking back on the past nine years of homeschooling with all its highs and lows, I’m incredibly grateful. I have learned so much, creating meaningful bonds with my children and I have seen the many ways God has proven His faithfulness to me through thick and thin. He has equipped me with everything I needed and more.
You may be in a difficult place right now and can’t see how things could possibly get better. My heart goes out to you because I’ve been there. Let me encourage homeschool moms and say that we may not have the same story, but I can relate to the desperate feeling of needing God’s help and intervention.
The Lord wants you to know He sees you, understands you, and is working out a good and gracious plan for your life, and your children’s lives.
Here are 5 promises from God we can rely on and trust.
Encourage Homeschool Moms with Truths
1 – God is faithful to provide everything we need (and more!).
When I first considered homeschooling, (my son was in 1st grade) one of my concerns was that my son would be deprived of access to resources that come free in the public school (such as sports, a computer, and even the curriculum itself). My husband was in graduate school when we were considering homeschooling, and our income was very minimal.
As I started seeking God on whether I should pull my son from public school the first time, He provided a family from our church who invited me into their home to answer my questions, show me their homeschool room and offered to share their books.
My aunt who had homeschooled her girls gave me some of her homeschool books, and we found an online program that loaned us a computer and printer for the school year for free! We discovered homeschool groups that were free or low cost to join, and were given a scholarship to participate in a soccer league!
As time went on, I was amazed by the range of opportunities my son was given! He got to sit in on some of my husband’s college classes, join a Lego League robotics club where his team won first place, he attended a free cooking camp at Penn State, learned how to ski through a homeschool skiing class (that was actually affordable!) and participate in a Toastmasters public speaking club for homeschoolers.
Not only were they enriching experiences, they were unique in that they matched his interests and talents. God knows our children better than we do – he made them and designed them with a purpose and one of the amazing opportunities we have as we homeschool them is to help them grow in their area of giftings! As I prayed for opportunities for my son, God provided an abundance of them!
And those are just a few of the opportunities and resources from the beginning of our homeschool years! God has been so faithful to provide everything we need, and more! I’ll share just a quick story about the “and more” bit!
One year we were struggling financially with my husband as a graduate student and we couldn’t afford a Christmas tree. My heart was heavy as I sat in our living room at the empty space I wanted a tree to fill and to decorate. I just felt so sad. I didn’t pray about it, but God knew how I was feeling.
Just then my neighbor randomly knocked on our door and said that her church was giving away Christmas trees and had an extra one, if we’d like it! I could not believe it! God showed me in that moment the truth of this verse found in Psalm 37:4 “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.”
2 – God is faithful to answer when we call to Him
Psalm 145: 18-19 says: “The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry and saves them.”
What an exciting verse, friends! The God who created the world, who created you and me is near us and hears us!
Can you think of a time when you cried out to the Lord and He answered you? Pause a minute to thank Him!
I had homeschooled my oldest son from 2nd grade – 7th grade and after 7th grade we moved to Alabama from Pennsylvania. My husband and I decided we’d give him the option to decide if he’d like to try public school again or be homeschooled. He chose public school, and within just a few weeks I quickly realized the environment he was in wasn’t healthy. His personality was changing. He became detached from the family, his homework included a whole month of studying “horror” as a genre (which once I found out about I complained to the principal), middle schoolers were bringing cell phones with access to the internet to class and vaping in the bathrooms. The worst of it was after just about 3 mths into the school year I received a phone call from the principal saying my son is safe, but he is being held back from classes because he was witness to a gun incident on school grounds and the police were questioning him!
My heart leapt from my chest as I thought how I could have lost him or he could have been seriously harmed. I called out to God in prayer, desperate for an answer as to what to do. A few minutes later while watching my toddler play, God clearly answered me. My toddler had waddled over to the other end of the room, bent over to pick up a small object he found from the floor and was about to put it in his mouth. In an instant, I jumped off the couch to pick him up and take it away. Just after I did this, God said to me, “just as you had to physically remove him from that dangerous situation, so you need to physically remove your son from the school environment.” It was so clear! And I was astounded that God spoke to me in a way I could understand clearly at a time when it wasn’t peaceful and quiet!
So the next day I went to the school and unenrolled him. I didn’t know what my next steps would be, but I trusted that God had a plan, and He did. He provided everything I needed for him to be homeschooled again (despite my fear of teaching 7th grade and his attitude toward it!) including a wonderful drop-off homeschool program at a church where he made many friends, they didn’t allow cell phones during class time (yes!) and a retired NASA rocket scientist who tutored him once a week in math.
3 – God is faithful to give wisdom.
There have been countless times where I’ve been stuck in my homeschooling and parenting – such as lacking the creativity for an activity, unsure of how to reach my child’s heart in a discipline moment, or trying to figure out how to balance teaching with running after a toddler! It can be so frustrating! But the times I intentionally ask the Lord what to do, and ask Him to provide wisdom, He is faithful to give me ideas, bring people in my life to learn from, or help me to understand things.
James 1:5 says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.”
My oldest son who is very bright was always asking me questions that were difficult to answer! One question was, “how did God make Himself?” I was completely stumped. But God provided wisdom – I was browsing my parent’s church bookstore shortly after He asked the question and a book popped out at me. It was a beautifully illustrated children’s book and the title read “Who Made God? And Other Things We Wonder About.” I knew I had to buy the book immediately!!
God’s wisdom is like hidden treasure to encourage homeschool moms – we need to seek God to find it and when we do, it’s precious and invaluable. We need it not just for teaching our children, but in everyday decisions.
4 – God is faithful to protect us from the evil one.
Training up your child in the ways of the Lord is pleasing to God, but angers the evil one. We need not fear though – Jesus is much more powerful than any of Satan’s attacks, but we do need to be on guard. There will be times we will face opposition and intense struggles. Ephesians tells us to “be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power…and to “put on the full armor of God so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground.”
I follow the Activist Mommy on Instagram. Have you heard of her? She has over 76,000 followers on Instagram, she’s a best-selling author and homeschool mom of 10 who is outspoken about her Christian beliefs and courageously speaks out against the evils of the world today. Her Instagram page (@activistmommyofficial) shows her with her family praying and singing hymns outside of abortion clinics, speaking out against drag queens coming to speak and demonstrate to children at her local library, and shares what is being allowed in to the public schools today. One of those is a mandatory curriculum on gender-identity, which teaches children as young as kindergarten that they can be any gender they choose. The Activist Mommy is such an inspiration because she’s boldly proclaiming what God says and taking a stand. She doesn’t let fear hold her back and she’s actively doing what God is calling her to do.
We may never be called to do what she does, but as home educators, God is calling us to pursue Him daily in how we raise our children. We can’t rest thinking that because we homeschool, our children will be protected from evil. We are in a spiritual battle, and we need the Holy Spirit to penetrate our hearts and remind us to fight for our children’s salvation. The enemy is after our children. Let me encourage homeschool moms that we must be in prayer for them daily, and show them the ways of the Lord all throughout the day. I want you to think: are you speaking to your child about God throughout your day, or are you satisfied with just a prayer at the dinner table?
I have had intense battles in the past, mostly due to the relationship with my son’s father. My first child was born out of wedlock while I was in my last year of college, to a non-believer. He is a high-conflict person and I prayed him out of my life so many times! But God had other plans. Even though my life has been incredibly difficult having to deal with him, God has been at work in both of our lives.
Years ago when in a custody battle in court (my son was just 3 at the time – WAY before I knew I’d homeschool) my son’s father had his lawyer fight to prevent me from ever homeschooling. The enemy at work! Fortunately the judge did not agree to that, and years later when I had homeschooled for a couple of years, God allowed my son’s father to see that homeschooling him was a good thing. He even told me recently that if he ever has more children, he would homeschool them (and humorously he even went so far as to say he’d buy my book!).
There’s so much more I could share about this, but just know this – you have NOTHING to worry about. God is on the throne, He’s in control no matter how difficult your situation, NOTHING is impossible for Him! God loves your children even more than you do (if you can imagine that!) and will stop at nothing to defend and protect them.
5 – God is faithful to connect us to others.
I love this aspect of God! God designed us for relationships, and often God shows His love for us through others.
Having lived on 3 different continents growing up, and three different states as an adult, I’ve gathered friends all along the way. God put people in my path at just the right time to teach me, encourage me, pray for me, help me and laugh with me! He’s also allowed me to invest in helping others. There are those He wants us to bless, and there are those who He calls to bless us!
We can learn so much from each other. Our prayers are more effective together, and we’re called to share each other’s burdens.
This of course applies not only to our spiritual walk, but our homeschools as well. A supportive christian community will help you grow in wisdom, confidence, and strength. And God is so faithful to provide community when we ask.
God faithfully led me to a supportive homeschool community when I was just getting started and had no idea what I was doing!
God faithfully brought me a woman from church to clean my home not expecting anything in return after I had my 4th c-section and could barely walk.
God faithfully introduced me to a single mom who was longing for a husband and I was able to encourage her by sharing how God provided a husband for me when I was a single mom.
When we moved to Alabama, far from home, God faithfully planted us in a neighborhood surrounded by godly christians on all sides who became like family to us.
God faithfully connected us with a homeschool co-op at a church where the pastor and his wife became our friends. I didn’t know about it ahead of time, but they just happened to be on the board of a homeschool convention and that led to me having a booth and speaking engagement when my book first came out!
And God faithfully allowed me to meet a woman who told me just how much my book meant to her, right after I was having doubts about my ministry to homeschool moms!
You never know who God will bring in your life! God wants us to live in community.
Hebrews 10:25 says: “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
And we are closer to that Day more than ever, right friends?!
6 – God is faithful to give us strength and endurance for the journey.
Let me assure you that even though I wrote a book about how you can do it, there have been many days and weeks where I have felt weak and ready to throw in the towel. But I have realized two things 1) no matter how difficult my children are, sending them to public school will not solve the problem and 2) what I sow, I will reap.
One evening after a particularly rough day with my children, my husband and I attended our small group Bible study at the home of a couple whose children were not homeschooled. This house was brand-new, professionally decorated, and not a crumb on the floor was to be seen! It felt like I was walking into the pages of Magnolia Journal. I felt at peace in this sparkling clean environment, even though I was a tad jealous that my home couldn’t be kept clean for more than 5 minutes. During prayer time, the owner of this beautiful home opened up about how she needs help knowing what to do with all her spare time now that the kids were back in school. I was stunned. All. This. Free. Time. My husband and I laughed about it afterward, but at that moment, that comment made me envy her lifestyle.
But you know what? As appealing as it is to have a clean house and have a few hours alone during the day, in the long run I’m so thankful for the quality time I have with my children who are growing up so fast. It would break my heart if I missed out on God’s plan because I got frustrated and decided to quit. God reminds me why I’m doing this. He put it on my heart to homeschool, and He promises great reward to those who endure and persevere in whatever He has called us to.
Paul instructed the Galatians to “sow to please the spirit rather than the flesh.” In Gal. 6:9 it says, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”
Am I saying if we decide to stop homeschooling, that God will not be pleased with us? No! I’m saying that we need to follow God’s leading for our children’s lives, and be obedient to that.
And in doing so, God promises to help us. Isaiah 41:10 says, “do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
Encourage Homeschool Moms with Love
God is at work in our lives just as much as He is in our children’s. Homeschooling has shown me just how much I need to depend on Him, which is drawing me into a deeper relationship with Him.
James 1:2-4 says:
“Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
and
Phil.1:6 “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. “
May you lean into these promises, believing and receiving God’s will for you as you teach and train your children.
Although I was too pressed for time to reach as slowly as I'd have liked to, I admit it was helpful. Encouraged, Hopeful and Inspired to keep going on my homeschooling journey. I often think to myself that I was chosen for this life because that's how I feel. I think I was more inclined to go the normal way but when Jesus changed my heart, He changed my Path. But it is so hard! lol. My goodness, I am thankful for grace that makes hard things fun. Thank you for your page and I saved it to return. I relate in so many ways and it makes me feel really good knowing you overcame some of my challenges already. I, too, will overcome. Thank you Kirsten.
-Ayana