This weekend at the annual Florida Homeschool Convention the theme of the conference was "freedom." I'm not sure that everyone walked away with that theme, in fact I am pretty sure that no one intentionally named a "theme" at all, but every single year, and this year was our 13th, God gives me a theme. Something that stands out at the conference, certain speakers that just speak to my heart, and something on which to build our new school year.
It is kind of funny because this year I was probably the least excited I have ever been about the conference. That's really weird, because if you know me, you know that this is my favorite weekend of the entire year! I love it! I love the people, who are always kind to my children. I love it when people see me with my baby and say "what number is he?" instead of the typical, "oh my, are these all your children?" I love it that never once have I been asked, "Are you done now?"
It is a relief and it ministers to my heart to be with people who understand me. It doesn't matter that we all look different. That some of us wear "trendy" clothes and make up and some of us wear "prairie" skirts and no makeup and some of us are right in between. What matters is that we are all laboring down the same path of home schooling. Sometimes it is a smooth, almost paved road and sometimes it is uphill both ways with plenty of potholes thrown in. On this particular weekend, I am surrounded by 10,000 compatriots who get this. They get the hard days and they get the joys. They get why we continue on, even when we don't feel like it.
Because, friends, this is the first year in our 13 years of home schooling that I seriously did not feel like it. This is the year that I cried out to God and said, "Really, God? I have to do this for how many more years?" This is the year that I felt like the biggest hypocrite on the planet when rookie home school moms called me for advice and I encouraged them to push through and told them they would have no regrets - homeschooling is the best decision we have ever made for our children. All of that is true. Believe me when I tell you that I told NO lies when I said it is the best decision we have ever made. It is. Believe me when I tell you I have no regrets. I don't.
However, this year has been hard. We have not gotten our "groove on" this year. Maybe it was our new baby, but really it would be unfair to blame it on him. He is the best baby I have ever had, and all of my babies have been good. But, this one naps for hours per day, he has been sleeping all night for months, and he rarely, if ever, cries. No, none of the blame for this year can be placed in his court.
That brings me back to why I wasn't super excited about the conference. I simply haven't been super excited about home schooling this year. Brutal, but that's the truth. Plus, my favorite speakers were not on the list, and I will admit to a moment of pouting about that. I look forward to encouragement from Doug Phillips, Mark Hamby, and RC Sproul, but they were MIA on the conference schedule. So, I went with a little attitude from the beginning.
As God does, though, He spoke to my heart first thing. Walking into the hotel lobby, I immediately remembered why I love this weekend so much. Kids running everywhere. Teenagers holding tightly to their younger siblings, laughing and playing - together. Parents huddled over the schedule, deciding what seminars to attend. Groups of ladies giggling like little girls, sweet fellowship ministering to their weary hearts. I remembered that we do this for reasons higher than academics. There is a calling far more noble than straight As and high SAT scores.
I looked at my children and immediately I knew that God was going to give me something to take home. He is faithful that way.
"I will put my trust in Him. Behold, I and the children God has given me." Hebrews 2:13
With that attitude adjustment, I began to peruse the schedule. Sure enough, He gave me a theme from the very first seminar I attended.
Freedom.
It is the heart cry of every human. We long to be free, both in the physical and the spiritual sense. What I learned this weekend is that our nation is spiraling rapidly down a path of destruction. A path that if carried to the end will land us, and if Jesus tarries, our children and grandchildren in bondage. I also learned that God is raising up warriors for the cause of physical freedom. Patriots, who remember their history lessons and who are teaching them to the next generation. A new generation who is ready and willing to fight for the cause of liberty. For the cause that our Founding Fathers were willing to die for. Our great nation was founded by men whose battle cry was "Give me Liberty, or give me death!" It seems like it has been a very long time in our country since there were men like that around. I learned this weekend that men like that are rising up all over the nation, many of them young men, who in the next twenty years will be our political leaders. I left with hope again for our country. Real hope. Not the kind we were "promised" in the last election, but the kind that only comes with true liberty.
Even more important than physical freedom, though, is spiritual freedom. I attended a seminar entitled Warrior Mother. I did not really know what it was about, but the title intrigued me. I am so glad I went. Beverly Bradley, a speaker I have never heard before, had us all searching our purses for tissues. She spoke such powerful words of truth and redemption over us. It was amazing. She has home schooled for decades and she reminded me of what I already know, but so desperately needed to hear again. When my children grow up and leave my home, the only thing that truly matters is that they know Jesus. Really know Him. Not recite Bible verses, not know all the answers in Sunday School, not attend church. Know Jesus. All the math, languages, and history in the world will not save the souls of my children. Those things will not bring lasting peace and joy. Those things are hay and stubble in the last day. All that remains is the deep, heart relationship with Christ. The even better news is that God is Sovereign over the lives of my children. I do not have to force this relationship with Christ, in fact, I can't force it. What I can do is know Him myself. It does my children no good for me to feed the Bible to them smashed in between History and English. Quite the contrary, that is probably detrimental. For them to know Jesus, I need to know Jesus. I need to ooze the love of God. If I do that and if I relate to them that way, they will see Him and they will want to know Him, too. He said that the greatest commandment is LOVE. Love God and love others. If I can demonstrate that to my kids, then they will get it. They will learn to love - Him, each other, and others that we come in contact with. They will become who God wants them to be - and it makes no difference if they look, dress, and worship with the same style that I do. I am not looking to clone myself, I am looking to raise up warriors for Jesus Christ. Soldiers for His army. Points of light that are not afraid to go anywhere He leads. With Christ at the center of their lives, everything else will fall into place.
That, my friends, is freedom in the truest sense. Freedom at a level that I can only begin to comprehend.
That is what I want more than any earthly thing.
No comments:
Post a Comment