Ride into town with me?

Have you ever noticed that some things are a long time coming and yet, they manage to still surprise you? This week, we began a new adventure. Brother and sister have found their way into a public school classroom. This took us by surprise, after a summer of school planning on my part, but it is what it is, and it's going to be good. Yes, I said good.

Brother found his bottom in a chair in town because I will not spank school into my son. As for sister, I've learned that trying to school one child at home does not usually work out so well. While this has been a huge adjustment, I'm confident they are exactly where they need to be and in wonderful hands.

We have prayed and are confident God has put us on this path. I've never written a "Why We Home School" essay. I either haven't had time or simply did not care to. Yet, I find myself pondering my feelings about this new adventure and why we arrived at destination classroom. Come along for the ride into town if you like....

Creativity can only be accessed through the art of discipline. Our children need discipline. Oh, they are good kids. They help out. They are normal kids, with one exception, they think they are entitled to read four or more hours per day. We love reading and readers in our home, but other studies are important as well. Other studies that maybe don't come as easy to them. They are privileged to have spent hours each day reading and exploring creation. They have a wealth of book knowledge in their heads, but they need to apply it more. It is time for them to start taking a more active role in their own lives. Participating with others, and a schedule, in expressing the creativity that God has given them. Participation in life even when it's hard, is not fun, and requires team work.

I do not fear the public school system. God is in the public school system. He is. Present everywhere. I have seen it with my own eyes and I will not be convinced otherwise. It is time for our children to engage. We want them to connect with their community. We want them to work side by side with people who may not believe as they do and people who do believe as they do. We want them to think about what is is they think about. We want them to apply their hearts to living in the world and apply their bottoms to a chair :-)

We have strong beliefs about scripture, the Bible and living in a broken world. We want our children to stand up for what is right. But in order to live the journey that Christ has for them they must be willing to cross bridges. To debate, learn, and discuss with all God's children. Christ tells me not to "fear" men or their opinion of me. That is hard to live. We know.

We ask, are our choices motivated by fear or love? Are my motives or actions based on human reasoning at a cost to humility and trust in the Lord? We must not enshrine our children on the altar of self preservation, but teach them the Lord and encourage them to spread their wings, when it is time for them.

Time has a way of surprising us. Arriving sooner than expected for many reasons.  Am I willing to bend and trust or are we all just going to break? Jesus went out into the world, and yes, even as a child, I believe He was actively part of His community.

Sometimes our children are ready (for change) before we are ready for them to be, but I must trust God is in control and will guide their future. We fill them up with Jesus and then ask them to go live that faith. They will try and they will make some poor choices. Don't we all? How do we learn to do better but by trying and yes, unfortunately failing at times. We listen, labour, love and learn in the places He calls us to engage. For everything under heaven has a season. (Ecclesiastes 3) As a believer in Christ, there is only one right way to learn, all else is debatable. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline." (Proverbs 1:7)

My children will realize they need Christ when they realize they are missing something without Him. They will want Him more, when they see that they need Him in their daily lives in order to succeed. They live a privileged existence lacking for nothing. They need to recognize their need. I cannot assist them in doing that within the very sheltered walls of our home at this juncture in their lives. They don't need socialization in a classroom. They are quite social. They need to know what it is to be disciplined and get up early and be a student and participate in their lives and make their lunches and get their home work done and be a good friend and a good listener. Listening, loving, learning, labouring in Christ's world. It is His world, I am simply a small part of it. He is sovereign in His world.

Some will be tempted to believe we have abandoned Jesus. I abandon Him every day. So do you. Each one of us, walks away from doing the right thing and from living the right way. It is who He who never abandons us. I abandon Him every day of my life and have to come crawling back. On my knees. In humility.

Each and every home and each and every child are different. We actively work to not judge and I pray we live so much more than that. I pray those who look at my words, see someone who asks about their life and is cheering them on in their journey. We hope that will be returned.

If we would live a spirit of community, might we find the blockages to our joy removed? I am raising my children to be part of the Church, the bride of Christ. Whether they participate in the Church will be up to them. Do I believe that if we show them Jesus, that He will fulfill in them the promise that when they are old, they will not depart from it? (Proverbs 22:6) I do.

I do not know what we will be doing next year or the year after. We school our children one year at a time. Yes, we school them. They happen to go to a public school a few hours a day and we school them the rest of the time in Bible, Physics, Art, life, fishing, soccer, the sciences and Jesus.

We live this season of our lives. We pray this season of our lives. Guide us oh Lord. Help us live out Christ in the world. Let us not defame your name. Let us love our brother and not abandon your Church, even when they abandon us. You will not abandon us oh Lord.

The renewal of the Church will come from a new type of monasticism, which has only in common with the old an uncompromising allegiance to the Sermon on the Mount.  ~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Dietrich Bonhoeffer's mother enrolled her children in public school beginning in 3rd grade. She raised them well and then thrust them into the world, that the light of Christ would shine before men through their lives.

Amen and God help us. Live it.