Gena of The Old Schoolhouse has some rockin' contests over at her site. The competition is fierce. I was excited that I won 2nd runner up the other day in one (and got a free e-book). Here were my answers to her three questions (not necissarily in any particular order):
1. Why do you homeschool?
A. Because I'm crazy.
B. Because I love my kids.
C. Because I love Jesus and the public school doesn't.
D. Because public schools teach evolution as a fact.
E. Because public schools provide "socialization".
F. Because private schools are not much better than public schools (I used to be a private school registrar).
G. Because Jesus home-schooled his disciples.
H. Because we like to take a LOT of field trips.
I. Because I get to blog about it.
J. Because the time I have with my kids is short enough as it is... and I had them to raise them (not let someone else do it).
K. Because I get to pick my kid's friends, but not their friend's boogars.
L. Because I can - HEY BABY, THIS IS A FREE COUNTRY!
M. Because I get to learn along with my kids! Life-long student, YEAH!
N. Because it is fun.
O. Because I make a better lunch than the cafeteria.
P. Because homeschool allows us to set our own schedule and take family vacations around Dad's work schedule.
Q. Because I get to teach towards my kid's talents.
R. Because I like the homeschool magazines we read. :) (OK, so that was brown-nosing a little... but a girl has to try!)
S. Because of the AWESOME HOMESCHOOL CONVENTIONS in Arlington, TX (and Six Flags Homeschool Day - roller coasters ROCK!!!)
T. Because we move a lot (husband's job), and it would be torture for the kids to have to be pulled in and out of schools.
U. Because we feel the Lord calling us to lead our kids (and don't like where the public schools are leading kids).
V. Because there ain't gun-toting skinheads or drug pushers in my home.
W. Because learning doesn't always have to be done at a desk.
X. Because ADD doesn't have to be medicated if you are homeschooling - ADD kids are gifted and wonderful! Just like ADD Moms (Like me!)!
Y. Because Jesus was homeschooled.
Z. Because my kids are worth it.
2. Will you homeschool your children through graduation?
I plan on it, although I'm quite sure I don't have enough strength on my own. Good thing that God equips the called, not calls the equipped.
Why/why not?
Honestly, have you seen what some of the liberal colleges are turning out these days? Just the other day some guy wrote a comment on my blog about how he was homeschooled by MISSIONARIES (Christian parents who work in overseas missions) and lost his faith when he started taking classes in a community college. I'm not so sure we shouldn't even consider homeschooling them for college. Hey - Abraham Lincoln did it for himself, why not?
3. If you had a friend considering homeschooling, and you could only give them ONE good reason to start, what would that be?
Because they couldn't do a worse job than public schools are already doing... and besides that, God will see them through it if He brought them to it.
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August 19, 2006
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11 comments:
>> Just the other day some guy wrote a comment on my blog about how he was homeschooled by MISSIONARIES (Christian parents who work in overseas missions) and lost his faith when he started taking classes in a community college.
I still follow your site because it so accurately replicates the culture in which I was raised. Correct me if I am wrong, but I understand this to be referring to me. This is a gross under simplification of my story.
First, my parents were not missionaries until after they home schooled me from 2-12th grade, though during that time my father was a regular lay teacher at my church. They went to and completed seminary after an early retirement. After this, they went overseas.
Second, I did not lose my faith during my years at a community college. I do not lay my apostasy at the feet of public education. Rather, more of my falling away came from reading Christian apologists and recognizing the vacuity of their reasoning.
To summarize the story, I was actually on fire in community college. I joined Christian student unions, arranged for my pastor to come and preach there, and witnessed to my classmates regularly. I wasted no opportunity to spread the gospel.
At the university to which I transferred, I was even more involved. I led music in church, in bands, in my campus Christian group, and in any Bible study that would let me sing. I was a missionary, giving up my $30/hr summer internships offers and my spring breaks and summers to go spread the gospel in Asia, central America, and poor neighborhoods in the southern US.
I was the go-to source for my Christian classmates for apologetics, for I was the one who had read the works of the Creationists, the intelligent design theorists, the apologists, and Christian philosophers. Rather than in the college classroom – when working for my A.S, B.S., M.S, or current PhD – it was this process of seeing the fatuity of most Christian reasoning that I lost my own faith. It was during the years where I was outwardly displaying all the aforementioned zeal and desire to know and spread the knowledge of God that I fell away.
Fundamental to this process was the lesson learned in church and in my home school. Everything – Christianity included – must be rooted in truth to be worth applying to your life. Thus, my search for truth within the context of Christianity was the very thing that led me out of it – once I found the claims of Christianity to be untrue.
Wow, Zeteo. That is even more sad than I thought. Thanks for clarifying, though. I still have you in my prayers. There are no unbelievers in fox-holes... and one day, hopefully you will be in a position to find that the truth you are so seeking was right under your nose all those years.
Until then, thanks for stopping by and reading my site. I really do appreciate it.
Zeteo... I found the post that led me to believe you began your fall away at an early age. Here was the quote (by you) that I was basing my statement on (sorry for the over-simplification):
"Enlightenment began for me at 16, when I entered college early, as many home schooled students do – academically ahead in all aspects except turning a trained intellect on the Bible."
What I intended by the clarification was not to disagree with my earlier post. It was to say there was more going on than just one day falling away. On the one hand, I was on fire for God, but on the other, I was seeking deeper answers. Yes, it did start at the age when I entered college, but it was not the entering college that did it.
>> There are no unbelievers in fox-holes
Do you honestly think I need more crisis in my life, and that this would be sufficient to answer my doubts about Christianity? Certainly fear of hell is a factor in why so many people cling to Christianity in spite of evidence to the contrary, but I do not find it intellectually satisfying. Christians are called to love God with all their minds as well, and that means moving beyond clichés.
Sprittibee, I appreciate the opportunity to dialogue, and I hope my tone is coming across as I intend it – a tone of discussion, not antagonism.
I really liked your list. And yes, I'm crazy too...you have to be crazy to do this thing called homeschool. But who wants to be normal? BORING! :)
This is a great post. Learning is supposed to be FUN! And ADD doesn't have to be a disorder, just another God-given lesson! Yay for the ADD teachers and learners! :)
Glad you like it, Sara. So, you planning on homeschooling the bean?
Sprittibee,
I apologize for using your blog for this forum, but I am compelled to speak to your friend for just a moment.
Zeteo Eurisko :
You will never find truth through the faculty of reason. History shows us that it is flawed. That is not to say we shouldn't use our minds, but we need to be aware of its limitations. God expects us to trust his revelation above our reason. This is why it is written that 'without faith it is impossible to please God.' I fear you have let Christian culture and cliches get in your way. Yes, much of it is dross, but there is gold in there somewhere and although the common folk may not articulate the reasons well, there are those who have discovered that pearl of great price that Jesus spoke of. Others are just following the motions because it's all they've ever known. But if only the great thinkers of the ages are privy to truth, then alas! for the rest of mankind. May it never be.
I, myself, spent many years doing all the 'right things' for whatever fearful and noble reasons there may have been within me, but it was not enough. I wanted something more. I took those many, many passages to heart that spoke words to the effect that if I really wanted God I would have to search for him with all my heart. What started out as a whispered prayer became a desperate cry that consumed me for months. 'Where are you, God? If you love me as much as you claim then reveal your self to me.' It wasn't until my desire for truth trumped my faith in myself, my intellect, my research,my.... my.... me..... me..... and my focus turned to Him, did my life change in a most dramatic way. It IS a spirit thing. Explaining away the metaphysical does not change this fact. All who come to him must take the leap of faith. There is no other way. He's not tidy. He won't ever meet you on your terms, because then you are stealing glory from Perfection for your own self. He will not have this. He is Holy. You will have stop worrying so much 'about being taken in' or you will never be 'taken out.' And what's more, you have NOTHING to lose in doing so, but if you are wrong, you will lose everything-- and I am not speaking in cliche here.
from a pierced heart
Anonymous,
I find it interesting that you are using human reasoning to tell me why I should not rely on human reasoning.
I was recently pointed to the writings of Galileo and to a quote of his that I find quite telling:
"I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with senses, reason and intellect has intended us to forego their use and by some other means to give us knowledge which we can attain by them. He would not require us to deny sense and reason in physical matters which are set before our eyes and minds by direct experience or necessary demonstrations."
Anonymous -
...no need to appologize, however... I have already spoken with Zeteo on this issue (as I am sure his mom and Christian friends have if he has been honest enough to share his lack of faith with them). For Zeteo, I fear it is a classic case of head-vs.-heart knowledge. You simply can not live vicariously in your Christian walk. You have to stand on your own faith, not ride in someone else's passenger seat. From the things I have read on his blog (about him not having experienced miracles or answered prayers), I doubt that he has ever had a personal relationship with Christ (despite his claims to be "on fire for God"). I think your best bet is to pray for Zeteo like we are doing. My kids remember him often. My son even asked me last week to leave a comment card in the collection plate asking our entire church to pray for Zeteo. I told him "No" for the simple fact that Zeteo is not his real name, and I would rather have those types of details to bother the church. However, he is on our family prayer list, and my kids are relentless about praying for him. I am quite certain that one day, God will find a way to open his heart - so that the head and heart can finally sync up!
My God is big enough to trump human reason. Unlike Zeteo, I don't doubt Him. Nothing else in my life has ever been so real. Like Zeteo, I had been taught the things of the Bible as a young kid, but completely rebelled against them to the EXTREME. I wanted to party, have 'fun', do what I pleased, major in Philosophy, and do what felt good (and there's not much I haven't done, sadly). I was 'enlightened by reason' and got the full dose of a life without God... all the way down into the spiraling PIT that it led to. As the song by Jake (Contemporary Christian Artist) says so well, "But I have tasted YOUR LIFE and that's how I know I am TIRED OF MINE". Zeteo has to experience God for himself. God loves Zeteo just as much as He loves you and I. He is patient and I believe He won't quit wooing Zeteo until there is no more time to do so. He knows what makes each of us tick and knows exactly how to reach even the hardest hearts. He did so with me. I KNOW that I KNOW that I KNOW that HE IS... and He REWARDS those who earnestly seek Him (Hebrews 11:16). Since He saved me, I now understand that not only is God's Way better (as far as living goes) but HE truly LOVES me... and has shown me in so many ways - every day miracles - because my heart was opened to the Truth by Him.
You can not open someone's eyes to the truth. Only God can do that. We are called to spread the seed (such as you so passionately have done in my comments section). God is the one who plants the seed, waters it, and makes it grow! Let us then pray for the hearts (like Zeteo's) that He would have them receive it! Only God knows the soil type that each heart has inside.
John 6:44
"No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day."
John 6:65
He went on to say, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him."
John 14:6
Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
Romans 8:28
"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."
God bless to you and to Zeteo!
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