Homeschooling -- The Hardest Thing I've Ever Done

I thought my college Head and Neck Anatomy class was hard. I thought studying for and passing the National Board for Dental Hygiene, all seven hours of it, was hard, too. I thought working full time and volunteering at church was hard. I thought childbirth was hard. And colic. . . . months of colic. 

It was hard to surrender my child over for surgery at 9 months old. So was praying for her salvation since before she was born. Staying married during rough times is always hard.
 
In comparison though, homeschooling remains the hardest thing I've ever done.
   
And if I had the choice to make again, I'd do it in a heartbeat. 

Despite the lonely days when I thought if I didn't see another human being over three feet tall I would scream. Despite the 547 days of phonics instruction before one of my daughters could read a four-word sentence without pausing. 

Despite the buckets of tears I (we) shed over Chemistry, Algebra, and Geometry. 

 Despite the days when fear would grip me as I wondered if I might be single-handedly sabotaging my children's entire academic future. Despite the days when I dealt with the same sin for the 100th time, and then had to correct it in my children as well. 

 If I had the choice to make again, I'd do it in a heartbeat. 

I'd do it for the joy of hearing my daughter pray to receive Christ into her heart during morning devotions. 

I'd do it for the pleasure of watching my daughter read all the way through Go Dog Go and knowing that I had taught her to read.

 I'd do it again for the character training I received through the years. I'd do it again for the opportunity to trust God when I knew that apart from His work in our homeschool, it would not succeed. I'd do it again for the privilege of watching Him work in each of my daughter's lives as they came to understand the world through a Christian perspective. 

 
I'd do it again for the precious gift of time. . . never enough, but SO much more than many of my friends had with their children during their growing up years.




 

I'd do it again for every field trip/vacation we took to fascinating places on a shoestring budget.

 I'd do it again for the chance to pray and ask God for all that we needed and watch Him provide bountifully.

I'd do it again so I could own part of their high school graduation and their college acceptance. 

 I'd do it again for the satisfaction of knowing that I had obeyed what God told me to do. 

 If I had the choice to make again, I'd do it in a heartbeat. 

"I can do all things through CHRIST who gives me strength" (Phil 4:13).

 This is the first chapter of Lori's new devotional book,Joy In the Journey ~ Encouragement for Homeschooling Moms With a devotion for every day of the week, Joy in the Journey also contains application questions, an action step, and a prayer. It's suitable for your personal devotions or for use by your support group for meeting topic ideas.

To read more about Joy In the Journey ~ Encouragement for Homeschooling Moms and what other homeschooling moms are saying about it, click here.

To order a paperback or Kindle copy,  Joy In the Journey ~ Encouragement for Homeschooling Moms

To read other posts on homeschooling:

To read the post "Homeschooling--Choosing the road less traveled," Click Here.
To read the post "Homeschooling--When you've lost your joy," Click Here.
To read the post "Homeschooling and God's mercy--When you feel like a failure," Click Here.

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