Why Homsechool? - An article explains for me.

Below is an encouraging article published in the Homeschooling Helper email I subscribe to that describes perfectly the reason we decided to homeschool. We can give you a list of reasons that we have discovered through our process to get here but the only one that truly matters is the fact that God has called us to it. This article explains it much better than I could ever do. Only he knows the plans he has for us.


The Compelling Purpose of Homeschooling

By Carole Adams

From the Homeschooling Helper

Parents choose to bring their children home for many reasons, which increase as secularism's rising tide assaults the family, children, and the nature of American education. When a neighbor asks why you homeschool, it is often difficult to state one major reason your family decided to create a handmade school when the neighborhood schools are "free" and convenient. Sometimes the quizzical looks remain in your mind, particularly on days when educating your children seems harder than other days.

The Real Reason Your root motivation to homeschool is the only sustaining reason to continue; you are educating by God's providence-by His calling, His preparation, and His purpose. What our faithful Father calls forth, He faithfully enables. He has led your family off destruction's path to a higher, often challenging, route for His supreme and eternal purpose.

The theme in the May/June 2010 issue of Homeschooling Today is the ark-the metaphor for God's move in this generation to bring millions of families "into the ark" of educational preservation. How exciting to be part of this historically significant movement. We cannot yet know the greater plan; however, like the sons of Issachar, we can see the signs of the times.

You and the Ark "But with thee, will I establish my covenant, and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee. . . . Thus did Noah: according to all that God commanded him, so did he" (Genesis 6:18 and 22). God called Noah to build the ark, and He prepared Noah with specific instructions on a timeline. Noah was aware of God's requirements (like you when you began homeschooling). The Scripture says he was righteous and "walked with" God. Was it only to reward Noah that God called him and made His covenant with him? I don't believe so, because God always works generationally within His purpose for man's redemption. Noah knew he was playing a role in a larger purpose. In this case, the necessity of eradicating the overwhelming evil in the world imposed the equal necessity of saving a remnant. God's purpose of preserving righteousness from the "waters of the flood" remains today. Your homeschool, like Noah's ark, is an instrument in the great design of the Gospel; it is God's purpose in this generation.
That idea is large enough to sustain home-educating parents. We cannot maintain the effort only for escaping a hostile culture; the effort is too arduous and lonely. Let's consider the definition of ark.

Ark: "A small close vessel, chest or coffer, such as that which was the repository of the tables of the covenant among the Jews. . . . The vessel in which Moses was set afloat upon the Nile was an ark of bulrushes. 2. The large floating vessel, in which Noah and his family were preserved during the deluge" (Noah Webster's 1828 dictionary).

The imagery is inspiring! Your homeschool is a repository of the covenant and a vessel to preserve it. The word preserve raises further questions. What exactly is God preserving? A look again at the definition gives further understanding:

Preserve: "To keep or save from injury or destruction; to defend from evil. 2. To uphold; to sustain. 3. To save from decay; to keep in a sound state; as, to preserve fruit in winter. Salt is used to preserve meat. 5. To keep or defend from corruption; as, to preserve youth from vice" (Noah Webster's 1828 dictionary).

"And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood" (Genesis 7:6-8).

Preserving What God Values
Your homeschooling preserves the words of the covenant when you teach them to your children. "And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up" (Deuteronomy 6:6-7, NKJV). Jesus, God's instrument to redeem mankind, stands quietly at the center of this generation, misunderstood and often unnoticed, but nevertheless, the dominant figure in history for the past twenty centuries. In Jesus alone, your children will find answers to the confounding questions of life. He alone satisfies the soul's awesome need for relevance, meaning, and completion at the deepest level. You have the calling, preparation, and purpose to preserve the covenant by teaching Jesus-the Word of God and the Bread of Life-to your children.
Noah Webster, in his 1823 "Letter to a Young Gentleman Concerning His Education," says the "first questions a rational being should ask himself, are Who made me? Why was I made? What is my duty? The proper answers to these questions, and the practical results, constitute . . . the whole business of life." He explains further that God's Word alone can give answers to life questions. Jesus alone has the proven ability to speak to, heal, and empower the individual to wholeness, strength, eternity, and the life we hunger for-the life that makes sense of human existence.

The Ark's Promise
"The Lord will be their light, and they will reign for ever and ever" (Revelation 22:5 NKJV). As the old preacher says, we know the end of the story because we've read the book; it ends in victory! There is certainty in God's Word. It remains forever and never changes when trends, fads, styles, and fashions fade away. "The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever" (Isaiah 40:8 NKJV).

This is the surety of the covenant when life is unsure. Your homeschool's mission is generational, Gospel-driven, far-reaching, and full of promise. Do your children know what they are part of? Do they understand that they are preserving the covenant for the ages? Do they realize that beyond grammar and penmanship they have a story to tell about God's providence in their lives?

Introduce your children to Noah Webster, father of American Christian education, and let them grapple with the three questions he says are the "whole business of life." Something happens to us when we lift our eyes unto the hills toward God's governance of the universe and His perspective. Give your children this view and your homeschooling daily business will be elevated to a true mission, cooperating with the Holy Spirit according to God's purpose in your family. Your homeschool is an ark in this generation. God calls you, prepares you, and gives you a purpose. Count it a privilege!