Giving the Kids Back to God

So we began our spiritual journey. It is a daily challenge to give the children back to God. You would think that after all we had been through with their health that this would be a natural process. But it's not. I struggle constantly in this area, and the Lord is always there to lead me.

One of the first problems I encountered was not just what to teach the kids, but which curriculum to choose. One of my favorite home school sources is the Rainbow Resource Center catalogue. It is huge, a whopping 1330 pages. It's pretty much a bible for home schoolers, and believe it or not there are many curriculums out there that they don't carry! I remember spending hours reading it, trying to choose what would be right for the children. Our kids had very different needs, and what might work for Alex, might not work for Ted. Eventually I gave up in despair and said " Lord, help me choose, I don't know what you want me to do." I closed my eyes, opened the book, plopped my finger on the page, and ordered that book. After it came in the mail, I read the back cover, and it said something like this:

"Award winning curriculum, suitable for childen with Dyslexia, ADD, ADHD, APD, auditory discrimination problems, and various other learning handicaps."

 It was exactly what Ted needed. There was no mistake, the Lord and hand picked it and sent it UPS to our doorstep. That's how it's been ever since. Every decision we need to make, when we give it up to God, comes out in their best interest. After all, isn't he the only one who knows what they will grow up to be?

There are several different methods of home schooling, for those who aren't familiar with it. They include: literature based studies, unit studies, classical education and the traditional textbook approach. We have used them all at different times, however, one thing that remains the same is our use of scripture.

After all, what kind of book is the Bible? It's a text book. We use it for studying all things. Our history lessons, for example, work something like this:

We start by reading Genesis, and read until we get to Egypt, then we stop and study Egypt.

Then we begin again, and read until we get to Greece, and we stop and study Greece.

Then, we read until we get to Rome, and stop and study Rome.

At one point in time, the only thing EVERY family had in their household was a Bible. If you read about the early American Pioneers, they owned very few personal belongings, but they ALL had a family Bible. There were very few public schools at this time in history, and yet our country experienced one of the greatest periods of literacy we have ever known. Scripture was used to teach many subjects. Over time, our family has used it not just for history, but reading, grammar, spelling, handwriting, memorization, recitation, and even math and science.

2 Timothy 3:16 says, "All scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." God is shaping who our children will grow up to be through His word.

Now, if you were to tell this to a non-believer, they would think you are crazy. I have had many a mother tell me, "I could never home school my children." It is difficult to explain to them that I DON'T home school them, God does. He leads us in each and every decision, each and every day. At the beginning of each school year, I actually make a list of what they need to learn for the year, both academically and spiritually. I use this prayer list during my morning prayer time. I find that the days that I get up late, or get side tracked and don't spend time in worship and prayer, are the days we are the most frustrated, disoriented, and generally accomplish very little. It is a spiritual journey, and it's amazing where it has taken us.

That Sweet Spot of being in God's Grace, where you can feel Him near you, you can hear Him in the birds in the trees, you can taste Him in the tang of a tomato plucked fresh from the garden, you can see Him reflected in the smiling faces of your children, is EVER so elusive. But, once you seek Him, once you find Him and experience His ways, once you are lead down His path and not yours, there will be no going back. You will want to be there as much as you can.

Psalm 34:8 says: " Taste and see that He is good: blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him."