More people are homeschooling now than ever before. Others are schooling at home through their school system’s virtual school. Some are doing a combo of in-classroom and remote learning.
Homeschooling is hard.
Virtual school at home is hard.
Rotating your kids in and out of school is hard.
I know some of you are struggling more than others right now, and maybe you feel like you are somehow failing and that your children’s futures are at risk. I want to encourage you with a lesson I learned over the 23 years that I homeschooled my children. It isn’t about the academics.
You may have always wanted to homeschool, or maybe you have your children at home because of covid but find that you love having your kids home with you. Or maybe you can’t even believe you have to do this and hate it! However you feel about it, God isn’t surprised. It is not an accident that your children are home. It might actually be the best thing to come out of the current virus situation. God has placed an opportunity in your lap for you to build a stronger, deeper relationship with your children and with Him. It isn’t about the academics.
Having your kids with you 24/7 is tough, and you may have been slapped in the face by some things you see in yourself and in your children that aren’t so pretty. They were easier to ignore when you weren’t together all the time.
Guess what.
Ignoring doesn’t make it go away. It is time to deal with relationships and character. It is time to take care of what is in your own heart. It isn’t about the academics.
God is most concerned with our hearts. 1 Samuel 16:7 tells us that man looks at appearances (what we can do) but God looks at the heart (who we are). His prophet Malachi spoke about the hearts of parents turning to their children, and the hearts of children turning to their parents, or else there would be destruction in the land. Well, we don’t have to look far to see the destruction. It is in the cities, but also in our own homes. You have no greater task than to win the hearts of your children, not just so they will like you, but so you can lead them to their Savior and help them grow to be the mighty men and women God created them to be, for his glory.
The very nature of homeschooling means that you spend much more time with your children than if they are at a traditional school for 30 hours a week. Time is a treasure, and we often squander it on things that matter much less than the hearts of our children. . Our children are smart; they watch and they absorb information like little sponges, and they see where you spend your time and energy. But time together is just one part of it. Just having your children at home isn’t enough if you are not engaging with them. Homeschooling gives you an opportunity to disciple your children, learn alongside them, discover what makes them tick, share yourself with them on a deeper level. I once heard someone say that you can tell a person’s priorities by looking at his checkbook. Where your treasure is, there your heart will also be. Treasure isn’t always money. Your children are your greatest treasure.
It isn’t about the academics.
~~~
Malachi 4:6 He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction.
Matthew 6:33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
~~~
