For all the years I have been a Christian, and earnestly trying to follow Christ, the one thing I cannot (honestly) say is that it is boring. I guess it’s similar to raising kids in that way—as soon as you get used to the rhythms and practices of one season, everything completely changes and you are compelled to learn new ways to get along and even thrive. This is an excellent way to live, I suspect because it keeps you open to new experiences and learning all the time. It keeps you humble. Makes you remember earlier times with a bit of sentimentality and a load of gratitude. And just as soon as you get comfortable in a season and think, yeah, I’ve really got this thing figured out, the page turns and you find yourself in a whole new chapter.
This week, the boys and I started homeschooling. It’s a chapter that I didn’t seek out, necessarily, but one that has been lingering in my ‘maybe someday’ file. Maybe someday things will slow down enough to try it…maybe someday our schedules will be more flexible…
And then one day the proverbial straw broke me and I realized that I was the only thing holding us back (I’m the problem, it’s me). Friends, when I say it is a faith endeavor, I mean precisely that.
As many of you know, I’ve worked in the pro-life space for about seven years now and my conviction for the sanctity of life (from conception), for marriage, and for the family only grows with my experience. I have witnessed the human flourishing that can happen (for both children and adults) in a traditional family environment of love, support, and commitment. Studies show that children who grow up in a home where they are raised by their biological parents (think: married mom and dad) are “significantly more likely than children in other family structures to avoid poverty and prison, as well as to graduate from college—and those benefits are evident across racial lines.” It may not be a popular thing to campaign on nowadays, but advocating for the intact family unit is the best solution toward sustaining a healthy society (and science is finally catching up!)
As Christians, we can hold the complicated reality of a broken world in tension with the original design for humanity and recognize the simple truth that children need both their mom and dad to grow into themselves. We will also walk out a myriad of redemption stories as God is working on our behalf to bring healing, restoration, and wholeness to His creation. None of us experience perfection yet—even the families who “look perfect” from the outside have their areas of struggle. But in general, it is a great and worthy thing (for everyone involved, and culture at large) for a man and a woman to marry, have children, and experience the fullness of the family design. And like all good and worthy pursuits, there will be both struggle and victory, pain and pleasure, joy and sorrow. There will be glimpses of God Himself along the way.
I have walked this road of redemption. I am still walking it, as the Lord graciously leads. Many dreams have been realized already, a treasury of blessings that could only have come about by the hand of God. Ask me sometime and I will share with you a few of those stories. There were also dreams buried long ago that for whatever reason, have not found the light of day (some never will, and that’s okay!) On the rare occasion, a dream will begin to unfold into reality—seemingly on its own, without my stirring or cajoling or striving to make it so—and I am amazed all over again to know that our God loves to delight His children. He remembers a dream that we have long forgotten, or given up on, and breathes it to life.
One such dream has been to try homeschooling our children. My professional life has led me down a path that I am profoundly grateful for and provided work that I’m passionate about (another bewildering faith journey that has me asking in my prayer time, God, how did I end up here??) but it has been at a fairly demanding pace of work the last 3 years. Long days at my desk and monthly travel does not easily allow for the personal attention a six-year-old needs as he is learning to read. The vocational opportunities for advancement were there for the taking, but I kept thinking about the old adage, “The days are long but the years are short,” and just feeling it bone-deep. Along with my conviction to take care of my family well, tend to my marriage with care, and now also take on homeschooling, I knew I needed to shift some priorities around.
Which has brought me here—a long road made short by reflection. We began our homeschooling experience (career? can I call it that?) on Monday, after a couple of months’ break brimming with summer. Local schools are heading back to class and we are staying home, taking on a new challenge. Even so, we remain in the depths of summer, really, with the stillness of August afternoons only stirring by choruses of cicadas or the hum of a lawnmower in the distance. The muggy stillness is suitable for our purposes; I wanted to ease into this new life, take slow steps, match our efforts to read new books and learn to be together alllll day with the final weeks of warmth on our skin, bountiful garden dinners, and family outings to get ice cream.
I’ll share more as time allows, but let me say this now: the decision to turn my attention and finite resources toward home was a difficult one. When the choice is between two great needs, two areas of deep devotion, and a clear calling alike, the ability to choose is almost made redundant. How can I choose between two loves…? For those of us who know the Good Shepherd’s voice, it is in these times when we must only be quiet and wait for His command. But once He calls, the real choice is before us—will we follow?
At the risk of sounding cheesy, I’ll say this about my early homeschooling experience—it is the everyday practice of abundant life. Abundant noise, abundant questions, abundant tasks to juggle, abundant laughter, abundant groceries eaten, abundant messes made, hugs and kisses in abundance, abundantly desperate prayers prayed, abundantly tired at the end of the day, abundant love abounding!
My years of learning about God’s original plan for family and witnessing His ways of redemption through the family have stirred a deeper understanding of just how true He is. If I believe to my core that children and family matter, and that God’s good design is trustworthy, then I must live it out with courage! I must put all of my chips on the table, as they say. I want to experience all that He has in store for us—every bit of His glory in our everyday life now and for generations to come. Do you?
As we seek Christ and follow His voice, it will look different for each of our lives…we may find Him in our homeschooling, and you may know Him through a different means—yet we will all know His abundance in deeply personal and unique ways if we continue to trust His leading. Let’s keep saying yes in faith as the next chapter unfolds.
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