The following blog post was written by a close family friend who wanted to share her story, but wishes to remain anonymous. Thank you for your understanding.
You can do all things through Christ Who gives you strength! (from Philippians 4:13) His power is made perfect in our weakness (from 2 Corinthians 12:9), and He will receive all the glory! God uses the weak things, the lowly things, the despised things, the things that are not! (from 1 Corinthians 1:27, 28) I pray this will encourage you to Homeschool Your Children No Matter What!
 Divorce doesn't have to shut the door on Christian homeschooling. |
I homeschooled my three children from the very beginning. I was convinced by God’s Word and by the beautiful (though difficult) experience that it was the very best thing for them and it was right where I, as a mother, belonged.
Unfortunately, after a few years, my life suddenly turned upside down and everything I thought I knew was a tumultuous, shattered wreck. Divorce was not something I ever thought I would experience, but now I had the most horrible ache in my heart… It seemed nothing could take the immense pain away.
From homeschool to public school
Believing that since I could barely face each day my children would be better off in school, I enrolled the two who were school aged in the public school down the street. It was not the worst mistake I ever made, but the worst sin for which my mother heart is grieved to this day. My children were thrust into a world of Godless “friends”.
My daughter’s teacher who was “more qualified than I was to teach her” had outbursts of anger in class and meditated on Confucius aloud daily. My son’s teacher who was “more qualified than I was to teach him” was just a kid, fresh out of college with no children of her own who frequented night clubs.
My son was labeled at age 7 as a remedial reader and learner, and my daughter was puffed up and stressed with competition. My daughter was bullied; my son became a bully. Both were exposed to forward behavior from the opposite sex. And sadly, my three children, once always together, were always separated.
Straying from God
Believing this was my only choice as a single mom, I went to work to help support my broken up family. I was the most spiritually and emotionally vulnerable I had ever been and now became more bombarded with temptation than I had ever been… a very dangerous combination. I now thank God that I usually worked until I was sore from head to toe and had pathetically little to show for it. Thank God that in His great mercy He did not allow me to succeed in the detrimental thing I didn’t know I was doing!
After working for six months, I suddenly realized that I was straying from the LORD in ways I never dreamed I would. My son was always in fights and detention and failing (yet being passed on). My daughter’s heart was being lost as well. Our family devotions were replaced with homework. Our fun little wagon walks were now replaced by lunches in the cafeteria, which was a futile attempt to “know” my kids’ friends.
One providential night in the bustle of waiting tables, God broke my heart for what was breaking His. I NEEDED TO BE HOME WITH MY KIDS!!! How would I pay the bills? How would we eat? I hadn’t even been receiving child support lately! What would I do? I had NO IDEA! But I NEEDED TO BE HOME WITH MY KIDS!!! I gave my as-little-as-possible notice that night.
Working through hard times–Together
What followed is a testimony that divorce is almost unbearable and that God is Yahweh Jireh-My UNFAILING Provider! For as long as I was a single mom I never knew how my children and I were going to make it the next week. The day after I quit my job, I was talking with a friend and neighbor who suggested I clean houses. She sent an e-mail out for me and within a few days I had several clients-enough to cover the bulk of my bills. I was able to take my children with me. It wasn’t easy teaching them and cleaning at the same time, but praise God we were together.
I juggled multiple jobs simultaneously. Paperwork for a small business, painting, tutoring, selling gift certificates at a restaurant, and selling popular products were some of the things God gave me the strength to do in addition to the houses I cleaned. All of these were things I could do with my children.
“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28 NKJV)
It was a testimony against divorce for my children to see the life of struggle and pain. Some days we did not get “school” done. Some days I cried most of the day. I wish I knew from the beginning that it was NOT protecting my children to keep them from seeing my tears by sending them to school. It actually bonded my children and I together to experience life’s very real hurts and trials together, processesing it from a Biblical perspective.
A bad day of homeschool is better than public school
With all that public school did to work against my goal of my children’s salvation and spiritual discipleship, IT WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER FOR MY CHILDREN TO MISS A WHOLE YEAR OF “SCHOOL” than for them to be robbed of the spiritual, emotional, and physical protection of Christian homeschooling!
If your days are all broken up, if you aren’t consistent for a while in teaching the parts of speech and long division YOU are STILL your children’s BEST teacher-God appointed! This too shall pass!
WHATEVER YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES, fix your eyes on Jesus-focus on tethering your heart to the Lord and discipling your children! Stay in the Word, cry out to the Lord in prayer, learn verses together, and SING to the Lord with all your hearts “…the joy of the Lord is your strength”! (Nehemiah 8:10b)
What good is it if your children can perform multiple digit long division with decimals but their hearts are just as divided?
“What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul”? (Matthew 16:26 NIV)
My children
In case you are wondering, it has been many years since my divorce. I continued to homeschool all three of my children. I later remarried and periodically earned income on the side to help out in the early years of our marriage-always with my children.
My oldest daughter is now a lovely 20-year-old lady, walking very closely with the Lord, completely pure and set apart for Him.
My son is now 19. At 15, he went to live with his father and attend public school. He failed in school and embraced a very sinful lifestyle. He eventually dropped out of high school after getting into a lot of trouble and is not walking with the Lord. Our hearts grieve for him, and we pray he will someday forfeit the world and gain his soul.
My youngest daughter is a beautiful 15-year-old follower of Jesus Christ. She has never spent a day in any form of school other than homeschooling and is the brightest beam of “socialized” sunshine you’ve ever met! 
We are uncommonly close to each other and our marvelous REDEEMING God and Savior!
Persevere through life’s hardships
Time constraints, financial crises, academic deficiency, relational difficulties, family tragedy… there are circumstances that make homeschooling seem impractical or even impossible. Remember, “…’With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.’” (Matthew 19:26b)
I know other moms who have similar experiences of homeschooling as single moms and whose children are both spiritual and academic successes. I know of women who didn’t speak much English and felt unqualified, but who bravely trusted God and were successful in using English curricula to teach their children.
God rewards those who obey Him in difficulty. “And my God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” ( Philippians 4:19) I have met dozens of women whose children are grown and who wish they had homeschooled! I’ve never met one who said she homeschooled and regretted it!
Here are a few lifelines that God threw to me when my storms were raging. I pray they will encourage you! Galatians 6:9; Deuteronomy 6:1-9; Deuteronomy 11:18-21; Proverbs 16:3; Deuteronomy 30:9 and 10; 2 Timothy 1:7; Joshua 1:7-9; Proverbs 2:3-5; Proverbs 3:5 and 6; Isaiah 40:31, Jeremiah 33:3.
Be encouraged! HOMESCHOOL YOUR CHILDREN…NO MATTER WHAT!
