I am the only person in my family who doesn't have a college degree. In my immediate family there are 2 Lawyers and 2 Doctors, so I wrestle with feeling like I have an audience of skeptical spectators in my homeschooling and homemaking efforts. I suppose they are skeptical because I take literal the scripture that says young women are to .....marry,bear children and guide the house...1Timothy 5:14
God help me to remember that homeschooling is not a circus, and help me to resist the urge to try to impress my relatives and outsiders with academic achievements. My kids are not monkeys and they don't do tricks. My goal is not that they would excel in math and money, rather I am praying my children learn to love and serve. I want to teach with patience like Jesus taught, always remembering that I am training for eternity and I am looking to mold hearts not just minds.
Do you wrestle with feeling like your family is a freak show?
Yes. It's very easy to fall into the trap of "justification" - as if we need to?
ReplyDeleteThanks for this gentle reminder about what ultimately matters in the long run.
Thanks for this post!!! I don't have a degree either and sometimes I just feel like a bum cause I dropped outta college!!! I quite going because aside from being a mom and writing, I have no career ambition that needs college. The thing is that I am single and not a mom so it feels like I am in like the off zone somewhere. For a while I was just going to college cause I was like well if I never get married I gotta have a career, but I have decided for now to just trust in God. I write often, I work as a nanny,(Which is basically mommy college, right?!) and I am activly involved in church,Bible teacher, outreach etc...
ReplyDeleteStay-at-home mom's ROCK!!! Here is a link to a story I wrote on my writing blog. It is going to be going in a book my pastor's wife is writing for woman- this is going in the Woman leaving the work force chapter as a testimonial at the end. I thought you would enjoy it!!!
http://maryfranceswriting.blogspot.com/2009/04/is-it-worth-it.html
I know what you mean about intellectual families. My family is just like that, but I was one of them. Master's degree or not, it matters little. I am frequently judged for homeshooling as many just don't get it. I have to keep in mind that they aren't going to, so I try not to be concerned. You can't explain a completely different educational paradigm in a 5 min discussion, so there's little point in starting.
ReplyDeleteI have been blessed to have seen many who homeschooled their precious ones as if they were circus animals. It has given me a clearer vision of the purpose of home education. It isn't about producing the smartest kid who can do the most tricks.
I want children who will grow to be godly mothers and fathers. Everything else is gravy.
Right, it is easy to fall into the "justification" trap.
ReplyDeleteMy children are grown and were not home schooled, I worked - single mom. But I remember what it felt like 20 + years ago raising them in this apostolic way.
Darla,
ReplyDeleteAs Anne would say we're Bosom Friends!!!!
Mary,Im headed over there now to check it out, thx for the link..
Ginger, *Everything else is gravy* is the truth!
CRM, Im sure you have no regrets about refusing to conform, I pray God give me that kind of grace.
I do feel pressure at time from parents who's children are the "best" at everything. But, I must realize, I"m not them - I'm the way I am because that's what God wants me to be. Whether it's family or friends, I'll never measure up to some of their expectations where my children are concerned. Glad to meet you - where do you go to church? We go to First UPC of Euless, TX.
ReplyDeleteBecause I am an older mom, or was, when we homeschooled, I feel that I was alot more relaxed than younger mothers possibly.
ReplyDeleteStill, there were times that I felt the pressure to do "more" than what we were doing in our homeschooling methods.
But I just couldn't see going to all of these outside classes and activities when we were supposed to be homeschooling. Some of these families were just crazy-involved in outside lessons and activities for everything you could imagine!
Please don't get me wrong...we did go on some of the field trips, which I even organized for a few years for our group but even then, we didn't do all of them.
We discovered by trial and error what worked for our family and, looking back, and seeing our son now....we done good! *smile*