by Steve Lambert

In the last article we talked about how to assess our progress in order to be able to enjoy the journey. This article I'd like to talk with you briefly about completing the journey of homeschooling.

Is the homeschooling journey a 13-year pilgrimage? Jane and I have been homeschooling for 17 years and each year, for each child, we ask the Lord for His purpose. Should we continue Lord? How should we proceed? The answer has been different for each child.

Before we began homeschooling, when we were still in the stage of prayerful consideration , I felt the Lord speak to me with clarity one day- not in an audible voice, but with a clear and profound sense of His presence. I had been asking him whether we should homeschool. He said, "I'm holding you accountable for your children's education. You may delegate some, all or none of the daily responsibility, but it's you that's accountable." From that day until this, I have believed He was saying He had no problem with homeschool, public school or private school and that we should prayerfully, individually consider our choices for each child, each year.

Proverbs 22:6 reminds us that we are to, "train a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not turn from it." We usually hear that verse taught as meaning if we teach Biblical principles, children will hold firm to the faith in their later years. While that's undoubtedly true, I believe that verse suggests something else as well. I believe we can place emphasis on the word he. If we train each child in the specific, unique way that he should be taught, our teachings will stay with him. No two children are the same.

I believe that we are invited to prayerfully ask the Lord each year about our homeschool journey. Ask for His input in evaluating our progress on the journey. Ask for His input in deciding when we have completed the journey. You will have run the marathon of homeschooling successfully when He says you've finished. You will have completed the race set before you.

May you enjoy the journey of a lifetime and may you run with confidence and endurance, completing the race you've begun.