Adventure to Homeschooling Part 1: Why?

why oh why would i do something like this?

how much time do you have? ;)

the short answer of this is that I felt the Lord calling me to.

i had never planned to homeschool.

in the beginning when honey and i first started our family,

he mentioned it.

i think i laughed.

i felt no inclination at all.

growing up in the public schools i had wonderful experiences and i loved school.

i wanted that for my children too,

and since we couldn't afford private, which would have been ideal,

public school was the obvious choice.

we have never had a horrible experience with our children in public school.

i want to say that outloud!

we have been blessed with some fantastic teachers & good friends .

then a few months back,

this crazy idea of homeschooling kept popping up in my head.

now i had always admired parents that homeschooled,

i just knew that with my strong willed kids &

my own impatience that i could never.

but the idea nagged, and i didn't know why.

it certainly was not coming from my own heart.

i did what any great mom would do...

i ignored it.

i buried the idea in the sand box, way down deep.

i watered it in with thoughts like  " I can't teach my own kids, what about phonics and long division?!

what about my 'free time?

what about returning to photography after the kids are in school?

what about the fact that i sometimes don't even *like* my children (despite the fact that i love them dearly)?

what about that oldest monkey who i can barely get to brush his teeth when asked?"

God was so not calling me to this.

no siree.

only guess what?

He was.

I begged, pleaded and cried for him to write in lightning on the ground a yes or no.

being slightly more passionate regarding that NO.

He didn't.

so i kept researching, read blogs, curriculum choices, asking advice from anyone i could think of.

( by the way a huge thanks to all who i pestered and willingly shared!)

and a peace started to grow in my heart .

slowly at first,

then fully.

i knew this was what God was calling me to do.

and now it felt right.

(this doesn't mean i'm not still scared out of my wits)

when i evaluated the reasons why i didn't want to,

each and every one of them was a selfish one.

so i threw those out in favor of serving the Lord and my children with my whole heart.

feel free to join me while i share my heart in this series...

reasons Why Part 2 coming next...

God Bless,
Mandy