Ask homeschool parents the question, “Why do you homeschool?” and you’ll get a lot of different answers. Sometimes they are standard, but other times they include reasons I’ve never thought of before. One story in particular stood out to me.
Meet Deborah, a mom who homeschooled all four of her kids through the elementary grades. Her homeschool journey, like that of most homeschool parents, was filled with challenges and triumphs, but what holds true is the constant presence of God’s grace. I’ll let her take it from here.
“My husband and I met at college in South Carolina. Our plan after graduation was for my husband to assist in a church in Maine or one of the other New England states. Realizing there might be no good Christian school in the area, we decided to begin homeschooling our children.
“Plans changed. I was diagnosed with colon cancer, so that put things on hold. The Lord was merciful. The summer of my five-year cancer-free mark, we took a survey trip to New England. We camped in central Maine and traveled from there to different areas. We came home excited about the possibilities.
“But God closed doors, and we never made it to New England. My husband was diagnosed with ALS. You don’t always see the ‘whys,’ but at that time I saw why we needed to stay in South Carolina—to continue homeschooling during his illness and to be near our family as well as our wonderful church family.
“The kids were a great comfort and help throughout his illness. God extended our time together as a family. Homeschooling helped us all grow through the experience. My husband passed away two and a half years later. We were able to build close relationships. I cherish those days—probably more than my kids did.”
Today Deborah’s children are grown and have been blessed with rewarding careers as a pilot, a missionary teacher, a business professional, and an artist. Deborah believes the Lord led her to homeschool because it allowed her to spend time with her family, to develop the unbreakable bonds she shares with her children today, and to build the eternal relationship they all share with the Lord Jesus Christ.
There’s a lot more to Deborah’s homeschool story. Each week for the next five weeks, we’ll be sharing some of the motivations that kept her going through those homeschooling years, many of them as a single parent.
We hope you’ll share some of your own reasons for homeschooling as well, to serve as a testimony of God’s wonderful grace and inspiration to other parents.